The Seal To What Was Revealed »

The exegesis of the Qur'an has been a subject of great controversy. Many attempted to attack this topic using various tools at their disposal. Some explained the Qur'an through the traditions narrated from the prophet and those after him and rejected any explanation of the Qur'an by the Qur'an itself, while others used empirical evidence from the natural sciences. Some even tried to fit the verses of the Qur'an to the philosophies of the Greeks and the ancient civilizations which were considered to be advanced. Others tried to say that the Qur'an was known only through a sort of deep, esoteric perfection of the soul. So the Qur'an was betrayed by the people, and progress in the Muslim world was stifled. The minds stagnated and the hearts grew cold as the Qur'an was put to the side. And so many Muslims fell into backwardness, unable to master their own religion due to contradictory ideas on the Qur'an from various groups, and the Muslims failed to properly utilize their holy scripture.

It is the goal of this work to introduce the inquisitive mind to the grand science of exegesis by exploring its roots, and explaining its importance. It will argue for the methodology of exegesis in which the Qur'an is used to explain itself, and it will make clear the fallacies of others styles of exegesis. Finally, it will look at the different tools available to the exegete.